Balangiga Bells
Burning of Samar
Balangiga Wars
Balangiga Killings
Winners: Balangiga Bells
Essay Writing Contest

First Place: P3,000.00 plus
Mayor Abanador Plaque (Ms.
Venjie of Las Vegas,Donor)
VICTORCIANO QUINTO GO

Second Place: P 2,000.00
plus Gen Lukbak Plaque
(www.catbalogan.com)
RYAN D. PARAGATOS

Third Place: P1,000.00 plus
Gen Aguinaldo Plaque
(www.catbalogan.com)
JIMMY E. SALAMIDA
Return of Balangiga
bells
The Ringing of the Bells in Balangiga Church signaled the
Massacre of 47 U.S. Soldiers of Company C.  At Balangiga, on
October 23, 1901, Brigadier General Jacob Smith ordered a
battalion of 300 U.S. Marines, under the command of then Major
Littleton W. Waller, to make Samar "a howling wilderness". The
campaign killed 54, 477 Samareno men and children 10 years and
older. (See link BURNING OF SAMAR).
Features: Wyoming vets OK return of Balangiga bells
Posted on Thursday, April 07 @ 22:52:31 EDT by editor  

The Bells of Balangiga have as much significance to the Filipino people as the Liberty Bell does to the
American people.

Wyoming veterans have voted for the return of two bronze church bells taken from a coastal town in the
central Philippines more than one hundred years ago. The vote may help bring an end to a long-standing
dispute between the United States and the Philippines which has frequently led to the controversy.

The passage of more than a century has failed to quell the passion attached to three bronze church bells
that were commandeered by American soldiers as trophies of war during a bloody conflict in the
Philippines. For Filipinos demanding their return, the 500-pound bells have come to symbolize their
forefathers’ struggle against American colonization. For Americans in Wyoming and in an infantry
division in South Korea, where the bells are displayed, they serve as memorials to 48 soldiers killed
during the 1901 Balangiga “Massacre” in the island province of Samar, Philippines.

Col. Joseph Sestak of the Wyoming Veterans Commission says: “We followed a lengthy process of
getting support from the major veterans’ service organizations and received no opposition and in most
cases support for the return of the bells . . . returning the bells is the right thing to do given the
international climate and the fact that many nations are returning war booty to the homeland from which
they came.”

Recent instances of returned artifacts include those from Okinawa, Hungary, Germany, the Philippines
and from the US.

Requests for the repatriation have been made several times since the United States granted
independence to the Philippines in 1946. In 1998 when then-Philippine President Fidel Ramos asked
President Clinton for their return, an often-acrimonious controversy erupted, which led to Wyoming
veterans firmly opposing the return of the artifacts, considered important in devout Filipino daily life.

Says one commentator: “Much of the opposition was a result of veterans feeling they were being
pressured for reasons that had nothing to do with the bells. They were told that the bells were to be
placed in a monument to American atrocities, which was untrue, but no one was addressing their
concerns. There was also a general feeling among veterans that both politicians and church officials
were manipulating the situation for their own agendas and there was a failure of trust.”

Sestak emphasizes, however, “ . . . the Veterans’ Commission had not had a prior stand on the bells.”

In mid-2004, after several discussions, a decision was made by the veterans to reconsider the issue
behind closed doors to avoid the acrimonious public debate that hampered earlier attempts to discuss
the issue

Opponents of the return of the artifacts leaked inaccurate details of the vote to the local Wyoming press
designed to provoke negative reactions from the Philippine government and Filipino nationalists and
persuade the Wyoming governor to ignore the Veterans Commission vote.

Says Sestak: “Prior to being able to communicate with the Governor, it appears that someone spoke to
him and convinced him to oppose the return of the bells. This was even before his own veterans’
commission had an opportunity to talk to him. It was the intent of the commission to follow an orderly
process and not provide any publicity until the issue was resolved. Someone thought otherwise. After the
Governor either supported or opposed the transfer of the bells, we would have felt comfortable to
coordinate a news release with the parties concerned. The story will now cause a raft of emotional
outbursts from people that do not know the whole story.”

A statement issued by the Balangiga Research Group, an group including historians and descendants of
both sides of the conflict, which has researched the Balangiga Incident for a decade says: “Doing the
right thing is often so difficult that it is easier to rationalize doing the wrong thing. In the case of the
Wyoming Veterans Commission vote to return the bells of Balangiga, it has shown to an American front-
line ally in the war against terrorism, the Philippines, and to the town of Balangiga, from which the bells
were taken and where today there is a monument honoring the American dead, and indeed the world,
that they have the courage to do the right thing and to act with honesty and integrity. The commission
deserves to be com­mended for doing the right thing. It was a courageous decision and the right decision.


(Historical note: In 1898 following the Spanish-American War, the Philippines declared independence
from Spain. However, the United States acquired sovereignty under the treaty of Paris that year,
Philippine independence was not recognized and war broke out between US and Filipino government
forces on February 4, 1899. The war continued until formally ended by President Theo­dore Roosevelt on
July 4, 1902. The Balangiga incident occurred on September 28, 1901. The abandoned town was
occupied by the 11th US Infantry on September 29, 1901, until its replacement by Marines on or about
October 24, 1901.)
What  Happened to Balangiga  Bells

I  was  in  grade  school  in  Catbalogan when our  history  teacher  asked  about  Balangiga. She said, “Class!..have  you  been to Balangiga?” Some of  
my  classmates  were  not  aware  of  this  town. They thought  that Balangiga  was  in  Luzon. Others said, in Bohol, Panay and in Mindanao. Being  a  
child  whose  parents  are both from  Eastern Samar, I confidently  raised my  hand and said “Yes!..I have been to Balangiga , Eastern  Samar. My  
mother  is  from  Brgy. Sto. Niño , Quinapundan and my late father is from Giporlos, a town next to Balangiga, Eastern Samar. Year after year, we visit
our great grandfather and grandmother, relatives and friends in both sides. I thought Balangiga was just an ordinary  town,  but  upon hearing  and  
knowing  it from  my  teacher, I felt  so glad  because  Balangiga  is  a  part of Samar  that  we  should  be proud  of  and  I have  already  seen  this  
historic  town. However  my  mind  seems  to go back to reckon  what  had  happened  to our  co-Samareños  in the past as  our  teacher  narrated  
about  Balangiga  Massacre. And that I felt sad with sympathy  to our  co-Samareños  who fought  and  died  just  to gain  freedom.
Historians considered the battle of  Balangiga  as  the  bloodiest  chapter of the American  Army  in the  Philippines.  It  was  the  worst  single  defeat  of
the  US Army during  the  Philippine-American   War.  But  before  the  encounter  came into  reality, there  was  a  good  relationship  between  the  
natives  and the  Americans. Local  officials led  by  the  town Mayor Pedro Abayan and Municipal  Police Chief Valeriano  Abanador  met  the Americans  
led by Captain  Thomas  Connell1  and  Lt.  E.C. Bumpus. However, it  turned  sour  due  to alleged  force  imposed  on the  natives  and  molestation  of
the  local  women  by the  American  soldiers. Thus, on September  26, 1901, Captain  Valeriano Abanador2, accompanied  by  some  men,  secretly  
contacted  Daza and  his  band  of  guerrilla  fighters  at  a  hidden  place near  the  town. At this war  pow-wow both  groups  (townsmen  and  guerillas  )
conceived  a  clever  plan of  action, fixing the time of their attack on the  enemy  at  dawn  of  September  28, the feast day of Balangiga’s  patron saint,
St. Michael, the  Lord’s Avenging  Angel. The natives coming as far as Sitio Naga of  Quinapundan in the  east  and  Sitio   Bolosao  of  Lawaan  in the  
west –converged  at Sitio Amanlara for final  instructions.
At the dawn of September 28,1901, the town fiesta of Balangiga, many  “women”  unnaturally  dressed  in  bulging  skirts  and  kimonas  and  heavily  
veiled,  started  trooping  towards  the  church  seemingly  to  the early morning mass. These “women” really were men who were ready to fight for  
freedom’s sake. Suddenly the  bells in the town church rang, conch shells blew from the  hills  and  the entire populace of Balangiga, assisted by the
bolo men from Lukban’s force  rushed  Company C. Captain  O’Connell,  caught  in his  pajamas, jumped  from the  second story  window  of his  room  
started  to  cross  to  the  barracks ,  was beset  by  twenty  or  thirty  bolo men  and  hacked  to death.
Some  historians said 48 Americans were killed or  unaccounted  for. Four  were  unharmed  while  22  were  wounded.    The  survivors  managed  to
flee  to the  nearest  American  garrison  in  Basey, Samar.
But  many  Filipinos  believe that  the  real  massacre  took  place  as  an  aftermath  of  the  Balangiga  incident  when the  Americans  retaliated  and  
turned  to Samar  in howling  wilderness. Some  50,000  persons  reportedly  died  when  General  Jake  Smith  ordered  his  men  to kill  all  
Samarenos  aged  10  and  above. The American  soldiers  burned  houses, shot  dead  working  animals  and  seized  crops. Then they  brought  along
with them the bells  of  Balangiga  when they  returned to the  United States.
Two of  these  Bells  of  Freedom  are  mounted  in  Fort  Warren  Air  Force  Base  in Wyoming. Another  bell reportedly is  in  South Korea.
The  Balangiga  and  other  Samareños  do not  know  when  will  the  return  of  these bells  to the  belfry  of  the  Balangiga  Church . That’s  why  it  is
noticeable  in  Balangiga  that  the  window  of  the  church  belfry  facing  the  town plaza and  municipal hall  is  without  the  bells. They call for the bells’
return during their celebration of the 101st Balangiga Encounter Day.
Balangiga  Mayor  Catalina  Camenforte, in  her  anniversary  message , said  they  commemorate  the  occasion  to honor  their  forebears who
exemplified  the  willingness  to sacrifice,  to  persevere  and unite  when confronted  with  a  common  cause.
Long live  Philippines! Long live  Samar!...

_______________________________________________
1Real  name: Thomas  W. O’Connell, a West  Point  graduate.  He was  commanding  officer  of  Company  C of  the  U.S infantry  which  occupied  
Balangiga, Eastern  Samar  and  was  annihilated  by the  Filipino  patriots .
2Valeriano  Abanador  was  the  Captain  Municipal  (mayor  )  of Balangiga.Sources:
Senia  M.  Zaide  and Roberto M. Zaide, “Documentary   Sources      
of the  Philippine History,”  Vol. XI,
Vicente  S. Labro, “No Bells to Toll for  Balangiga  Heroes,”   
Philippine Daily  Inquirer, September  28,2002, A/18.
Vide  Valentie  Loyola  and  Jose  P. Abletez, “The  Banlagiga  
Massacre,”  This  Week  Magazine  Section  of the  Manila  
Chronicle,  September 13,  1959.  
VICTORCIANO QUINTO GO  May  22, 2004
Coach  :  Mrs.  Villa  Carpio
English  teacher
What happened to the Church Bells of Balangiga?

Ongoing Philippine Centennial preparations raise once
again the issue retrieving one of the famous Balangiga
bells from the United States. Recently a group of
American legislators filed in the U.S. House of
Representatives a resolution urging President Bill
Clinton to authorize the return of one of the famous
Balangiga bells to the Philippines.

U.S. House Resolution 312 supports the proposal of
President Ramos for the Philippines and the United
States each to have one of the two original bells now
displayed at FE Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne,
Wyoming and one of the two duplicates to be cast from
the other original.

These two bells which received extensive publicity in
the United States due to the persistent efforts of the
Philippines government to retrieve at least one of
them, form part of the war booty taken by American
soldiers in Balangiga.

The famous battle at Balangiga last 28 September 1901
nearly wiped out a detachment of 74 American soldiers
in Balangiga.

Both bells, each about 3 ft. high and cast in 1863
and 1889, show the Franciscan emblem with human hands
bearing a stigmata. The cannon, a rare English Falcon
with a 2.5 barrel is 7 ft. long and weighs 700 pounds.
It was cast by Robert Owen in Hounsditch near London
on the breech were the letters MR (Maria Regina) and a
rose relief. How the cannon wound up in Balangiga is
still a matter of historical speculation.

Efforts to have the booty returned began as early as
1912 from a major Gen. James Franklin Bell, then chief
of staff of the Philippines. He questioned the
propriety of taking, even as a souvenir a bell
belonging to the Catholic Church, simply because a
recreant native priest either used it or permitted it
to be used to sound a signal of attack on American
soldiers various appeals followed, including one from
eminent Filipino historian Fr. Horacio de la Costa in
1958. In 1989, Balangiga officials sent a petition to
Congressman Ron Dellum, then head of the Armed Forces
Services Committee. The petition remained unanswered

President Ramos also discussed the return of the
bells with President Clinton in 1993 during the
later’s visit to the Philippines and again last
November’s APEC meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

Philippine Ambassador to Washington Raul Rabe has
also continuously worked to recover at least one of
the bells. Almost a century later, the bells and
cannon now languish and are barely noticed at the Air
Force Base as they lack the symbolic sting they used
to embody. There are no yearly observances, no
memorials, honoring the 45 American soldiers. No local
newspaper editorials are written about the Balangiga
uprising.
Except for a group of aging war veteran diehards, who
cling to the items vowing they would never leave
American shores, the rest of the nation remains
ignorant and oblivious to this sad chapter in American
Military History.

The amnesia in America is in sharp contrast to the
continued remembrance and longings by the people of
Balangiga. Every year on 28 September, the people of
Balangiga reenact the events leading to the actual
uprising. With the church and the plaza as actual
backdrops, the whole town relives that important
historical moment, and ends with towns people praying
for the return of their bells and cannon.

Name: Ryan D. Paragatos
Address: Ubanon, Catbalogan, Samar
Name of School: Samar College
School Address: Mabini Avenue, Catbalogan, Samar
English Teacher: Mr. Simeon Caimen
E-mail address: samarcol@yahoo.com
Church Bells of Balangiga: A Treasure to Reclaim

What happened to the church bells of Balangiga? Do we still have the
chance of hearing them? Or, would there be any chance that they would
ring again to call people to pray and worship God in His church?

It has been almost a century when the church bells of
Balangiga were last seen and heard ringing in the belfry of Balangiga
Church. These were the bells that caused the death of 47 US soldiers from
the hands of courageous Waray men dressed as pious women as the bells
were used to signal a surprise attack against the Americans on the early
morning hours of September 28, 1901 in the town of Balangiga, Eastern
Samar. This attack was known t o be as Balangiga Massacre. It was a
massacre that shocked the United States, noted as the worst disaster
suffered by the US Army since Custer’s last stand at Little Big Horn.

The church bells of Balangiga has a very significant role in the
community of strong Catholic tradition as they call people to come to the
church to pray and worship God religiously. But on that they of September
28,1901, they weren’t used to practice Catholicism instead to signal
an attack against the American soldiers by the Waray revolutionaries.
An attack that caused the native Waray people to wake and be free from
being silent, and not just merely colonized by the Americans.

In retaliation, the United States turned the whole Samar Island into
“a howling wilderness” ass Brigadier General Jacob Smith issued an
order to kill everyone who is capable of bearing arms in actual
hostilities against the US Army and burn everything that would sustain the
guerillas. The US soldiers systematically burned the villages in the
interior, destroying the food and slaughtering the farm animals that help the
natives on their work. Aside from killing those who are capable of
rebellion, who were, mostly boys of ten years of age and older, the
American troops also killed civilian inhabitants that resulted in an abrupt
drop of Samar’s population from 312, 192 to 257, 715. Furthermore,
hostilities taken by the American reprisals included the razing of several
Catholic churches in the area and the confiscation of the Balangiga
Bells, the bells that strengthened the courage and heroism of the native
Waray people to fight back against the American colonizers.

At present, the church bells of Balangiga are currently installed at
the brick wall of the flagstaff at the center of the parade grounds of
Francis W. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. They were taken
from the Roman Catholic Church of the Parish of Balangiga as relics of
war.

Now, a call for the return of the bells has always been an action
taken by the Catholic Community and the Philippines government but seemed
to be along road to take. The United States say that the bells belong to
the US government as they are legitimate spoils of war and in them are
enshrined the memories of their dead ones, mercilessly massacred by the
treacherous attacks. But, the bells of Balangiga are church bells,
religious artifacts with considerable significance to the Catholic
tradition, which connotes that they are inappropriate relics of war.

The church bells of Balangiga, seized as war booty in the 1901
Balangiga Encounter symbolizes an unforgettable memory both for the
Philippines, who seeks for their immediate return and the United States, for they
carry the memories of the US troops who died in the encounter. More so,
the bells signify the collective sentiments of both Filipinos and
American soldiers. Nevertheless, the bells should be returned to Balangiga
Church as they call people to prayer and worship and their return would
play a great part in strengthening and promoting Christianity, not only
in the whole island of Samar, but also throughout the Philippine
archipelago.
Jimmy E. Salamida
Sitio Cal-apog Brgy. Bunu-anan Catbalogan, Samar
Samar State Polytechnic College Mercedes Campus
College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences
Brgy. Mercedes Catbalogan, Samar
Mrs. Yolanda M. Babalcon-adviser
Email ad: black_sugar@gay.com